


Beware of Dragon

by rebaobsessions



Series: Tumblr Prompts [2]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-03
Updated: 2018-09-03
Packaged: 2019-07-06 13:47:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15887268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rebaobsessions/pseuds/rebaobsessions
Summary: One-shot from a prompt on Tumblr: "Q 18, Q 36, I 6, Prinxiety?"Q18: “What? NO! It’s a dragon!”Q36: “Take one more step, I dare you.”I6: First kiss





	Beware of Dragon

**Author's Note:**

> Can be found on tumblr [here](https://reba-andthesides.tumblr.com/post/177684460809/q-18-q-36-i-6-prinxiety). Prompt came from [here](https://reba-andthesides.tumblr.com/post/177660893579/writing-prompts).

It was midday in summer, the sun high in the sky, filtering through the green canopy of the forest and casting the path in mottled shadows. It was hot, a sticky humid sort of hot, but there was a soft breeze filtering through the trees that took the edge off. It was, actually, rather peaceful—complete with rampant wildflowers and the soft melodies of songbirds.

Virgil, however, was not pleased. He had no idea why he was here, trudging behind the (way too bright) glimmering form of his prince. His silver steel armor was shined to mirror quality and threw light around the forest with every step he took, no doubt scaring away any nearby animals. Even though Virgil was pretty sure they weren’t out hunting, it was still _very_ annoying. Just like this whole idiotic venture, _and_ the man in front of him.

Out of all the kingdom’s knights, Prince Roman had picked _him_ to go on this wild-hair day trip and Virgil _didn’t understand._ As far as he was aware, the prince didn’t even _like_ him! They were always trading insults back and forth (and boy was Virgil surprised the first time he responded and there were no consequences), and the prince always went out of his way to complain loudly about Virgil when he was in earshot. It was, frankly, infuriating.

It was all the more infuriating because his best friend, the court advisor Logan, insisted that the prince _liked_ him. Of all the ridiculous notions…. Allegedly Roman’s personal servant Patton always went to Logan to complain about it. If anyone else tried that, Virgil was certain they’d be subjected to an hour-long lecture, but Patton got away with it. It was rather endearing, honestly. But still, Virgil refused to believe the prince liked him. It was absolutely absurd.

(He daren’t get his hopes up.)

“Roman,” he called wearily, “Do you have any idea where you’re going?”

The prince pulled up short and turned to glare over his shoulder, “Of course I do, Darkest- _Knight_! Have some faith!”

Virgil couldn’t help snorting, “In _you_ , your highness?”

“Psshh,” Roman huffed, “ _rude_.” Rolling his shoulders in his overly dramatic fashion, he set back off down the trail. After a moment and a heavy sigh, Virgil started plodding along behind him again.

They continued down the path for another hour and Virgil’s attention began to wane dramatically (although it wasn’t very high to begin with). About the time he was seriously considering just sitting down and seeing how long it would take to prince to figure out he was no longer behind him, Roman suddenly veered off the path with a dramatic exclamation. For a single beat Virgil froze, eyes widening in shock, before adrenaline coursed through his system, electrifying his nerves and activating his trained and honed instincts. Roman disappeared around a bush and Virgil was off like a shot.

“Princey!” he yelled, unable to hide the anxiety in his voice, “What the hell are you _doing_?”

“Going on an adventure, of course!” the insolent royal laughed over his shoulder, “What did you think, _Knight_ mare?” With a joyous laugh, he disappeared through a wall of bushes, triggering a growl of pure frustration from his companion.

“I swear to god,” he hissed, plowing through where his prince had disappeared, “if you get us lost—” Virgil let out a startled grunt as he collided with the prince’s impressively shined armor and stumbled back a step.

“Shhh,” Roman urged, grabbing Virgil’s shoulder and pulling him forward to stand next to him. (Virgil would never admit it, but Prince Roman was one of the only people who could get away with such a thing, and it had nothing to do with his title.) Once Virgil had regained his footing and turned a glare on him, Roman leaned close and pointed into the distance with his free hand, “ _Look_.”

Forcing his irritation back (which he had an unfortunate amount of practice with), Virgil followed the sight line indicated by the silver-clad arm. They were standing at the top of a rather large hill and at the border of an expansive meadow. On the other side of the yellow and pink dotted grass was a steep cliff face, towering up at least forty feet. It was all thoroughly impressive, and stunningly beautiful, but what Roman was pointing at…. Virgil let out a strangled sound from deep in his throat.

Halfway up the cliff face, a giant hole was hollowed into the sheer brown stone. The hole itself was at least ten feet tall and twenty feet wide, surrounded—especially below—by deep gouge marks that came in threes. _Claw marks_.

And _inside_ the hole… Virgil could clearly make out a thick, long tail coated in shiny red scales. It was at _least_ as big around as them and long enough that it dangled several feet below the hole. Deep in the shadow of the hole itself, Virgil could just barely make out the glimmer of something sharp and the outline of something frighteningly large.

“It’s a dragon!” Roman exclaimed as though he was merely pointing out a rare bird.

Virgil swallowed hard. “I can see that,” he agreed. It came out evenly but pitched much higher than he had intended.

“C’mon! Let’s get closer!” the prince urged, the hand that had been on Virgil’s shoulder dropping to his arm to pull him towards the fearsome beast.

“ **What?** ” the knight squeaked, “ **NO! It’s a _dragon_!** ”

“Where’s you’re sense of adventure, Sir Virgil?” Roman teased, continuing to pull him out into the meadow and down the hill.

“Nonexistent!” Virgil hissed, “I’m Virgil the _Vigilant_ , you doofus!” Frustrated, he caught the hand on his arm and pulled sharply, effectively throwing the prince off balance and stalling his forward motion.

The prince groaned dramatically, “You’re no fun.”

Virgil glowered at him. “If you wanted _fun_ you probably shouldn’t have brought me,” he spat, “Now, come on, _your highness_ , let’s leave the scary dragon _alone_ so it doesn’t _roast us_.”

Roman blinked owlishly at him. “Virgil,” he started, an unusual note of hesitancy in his voice.

“Roman,” he growled back.

The prince heaved a sigh, “Come on, please? I promise to be careful, but how often do you get to see a dragon this close?”

“No. Absolutely not,” he refuted firmly. “How did you even find out about it?”

Roman shifted a little uncomfortably, enough out of character to rouse Virgil’s suspicion. “Thomas… _may_ have mentioned visiting the local dragon last time he toured the North…” That made sense. Roman was always soaking up his older brother’s stories like a sponge. But, really, in _what world_ was this a good idea?

The knight sighed and pinched his nose. “Why me?” he almost whispered, meaning it as a rhetorical question.

“Because you’re the most fun?” the royal offered after a beat of silence.

Virgil pulled his hand away from his face and gave him an incredulous look, “You _just_ said I’m no fun.”

Roman let out a frustrated noise, “I didn’t _mean_ it.”

“Then what _do_ you mean?” he threw his hands in the air.

“You…” he trailed off. “I guess, you’re more fun _because_ you don’t do everything I want.”

Virgil blinked at him, stunned, “Oh.”

“I feel like I actually know you because you’re not always…” his face twisted as though he had tasted something sour, “trying to suck up to me or something.”

Virgil snorted, and Roman grinned at him. “What, Princey, you mean you don’t like _politics_?” the knight pretended to be surprised even though he was already well aware of the fact. It was a tad more dramatic than normal for him, but the widening of the prince’s grin made it completely worth it. (It was as brilliant and expressive at the man himself, and it easily out shone his armor, and… _shit,_ he was so _screwed.)_

Virgil felt himself flushing red and cursed his pale complexion with everything he had. To make it worse, Roman was examining him carefully, smile still in place, and his eyes were widening. Mortified that the prince had noticed, Virgil struggled futilely not to blush deeper. Roman opened his mouth to say something but he never found out what because, at that very same moment, a bone rattling roar echoed from the cliff face.

The pair whirled around to face the hole, finding the crimson dragon half-hanging out of its cave and glaring down at them with glowing gold eyes. Its mouth was open, a wisp of flame licking the edge of its sharp teeth and smoke pouring from its nostrils.

In perfect synchronicity they took a step back, eyeing the creature as it lashed it’s tail and caused a clatter of stone to echo from somewhere deep in the cave.

“Roman,” Virgil started, blindly reaching for the prince with the intention of dragging him out of there. Before he could do anything, however, Roman shocked him by drawing his sword and stepping in front of him.

“Stay back,” he commanded, voice only shaking a little.

The dragon snarled again and threw itself from the cave, landing with a great thump on the ground about a hundred feet away and causing them the scramble back several more feet. Roman had a hand stretched out behind him, as though he meant to blindly herd Virgil to safety.

Virgil was so very stunned by the action that he didn’t think to do anything until the prince took a determined step forward. For the second time that day, adrenaline shot through his system but this time, with such clear and present danger, he was not simply _annoyed_. Roman made to take another step forward and the knight let out a furious sound.

“ **Take one more step, I _dare you_ ,”** Virgil snarled, bringing his prince up short. When Roman shot a startled and frightened look over his shoulder, Virgil moved closer to the idiotically brave man and raised an unimpressed eyebrow, “I don’t need a hero, Roman. I need my _prince_. So, get your ass back here so we can do the _smart_ thing and _run away_.”

Roman let out a startled laugh, “Right. Good call.” He took a step towards his knight and glanced back at the furious dragon. “Now?”

“Now,” Virgil confirmed. A moment later they dashed for the forest together, the roars that echoed behind them only spurring them on. They bolted full tilt into the foliage, dodging bushes and ducking branches, skidding across loose dirt and stumbling over roots. They kept running until they were panting for breath and the sounds of the dragon were lost to the distance. Only then did they slow to a trot, then a walk, before coming to a stop in a small clearing and bracing themselves on their knees, sucking in air like they were drowning. Before they had fully managed to catch their breath, their gasping turned into chuckles, then breathy laughs. Soon they were leaning against trees, holding their stomachs and laughing so hard they cried.

“That,” Virgil gasped, “was… the stupidest… thing I’ve ever… seen you do.”

“Shut up,” Roman gasped in reply, “You will… tell no one... of this… _ever_.”

“Sure, Princey,” he choked on another chuckle, “ _sure_.”

“Treason,” the prince declared weakly, sinking onto a fallen log.

Virgil gave an amused snort and dragged himself the few feet to sit beside him. For the next few minutes they sat in comfortable silence, regaining their stamina and reveling in their near-miss. Virgil wasn’t certain exactly when, but at some point they had leant towards each other and he now had his armored shoulder firmly pressed against Roman’s own ridiculously shiny one. It was… comfortable.

“Hey, Virgil?” Roman asked lowly below the songbirds’ tunes.

Virgil turned to meet his eyes, “Yeah?”

“Thanks for saving my hide back there,” he gave the knight a soft smile, “I’m not sure what I’d do without you.”

Once again, Virgil cursed his stupid pale skin as he felt himself flush. “It’s no problem,” he muttered, “Can’t have you dying on me, can I, Sir Sings-a-lot.”

“Yeah,” the prince agreed softly. After a moment, Virgil realized that he –the _prince_ – was _blushing too_ , and his eyes went wide. What he was seeing made no sense, whatsoever. Why was _Roman_ looking at him like _that_?

As though watching an outside event in slow motion, Virgil proceeded to register Roman raising a gloved hand to his face and brushing (feather light, barely there) a strand of hair off his temple. The soft leather traced his jaw and came to rest just below his chin; Virgil inhaled sharply, heart stuttering in his chest. This was... impossible. And wonderful. Virgil was certain he was seeing things wrong, but there was no way he was going to risk breaking the spell and stopping… _whatever_ it was that was happening.

Unusually hesitant, Roman swallowed, adam’s apple bobbing up and down, and eyed him carefully, gaze tracing every aspect of his face. He spent what felt like an eternity sitting there, gently brushing Virgil’s jaw with his thumb and examining the knight’s every reaction, but finally he found what he was looking for and began, ever so slowly, to lean in. Virgil stared into his deep hazel eyes, their richness and utter emotion wrapping around him like a spell and pulling him in like the force of gravity itself.

The first press of lips was soft and cool and sent tingles up and down Virgil’s body, leaving him gasping and pushing impossibly closer. He tilted his head slightly, causing Roman to gasp against his mouth, and he grinned slightly. Roman’s other hand found its way into his dark hair, the hand on his jaw dropping to rest against Virgil’s breast plate. Virgil, in turn, found an arm wrapping around his prince, the other moving to rest against his thigh, and was startled by how well they seemed to fit against each other.

It was more than he could ever have hoped for.

After kissing (and kissing and kissing and kissing), they came up for air, gasping for an entirely different reason than before. A brilliant grin broke across Roman’s face, leaving Virgil grinning dopily back, and he chuckled lightly, “I _so_ owe Patton.”

Virgil was sure that’d probably mean something to him in a minute, but for now… For now he was content to simply enjoy the strange warmth sitting in his chest.

**Author's Note:**

> Please feel free to prompt me at any time. I take prompts from any fandom [@rebaobsessivelywrites](https://rebaobsessivelywrites.tumblr.com/) and Sanders Sides specific ones there or [@reba-andthesides](https://reba-andthesides.tumblr.com/)


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